The Agreement
by Captain Compass
Summary: Harry finds out in his fourth year about the way Ginny and Hermione resolved their relationships with him before he started at Hogwarts. One Shot set during the Goblet of Fire selection of Champions with a few bad words and a spoiler or two if you'd like. H/G/Hr affection,nothing more.


The Agreement

October 31st, 1994

They all agreed that they would arrive very early and get a great place to watch the selections. Hermione was the one that put her books and study guides up first and hurried the two others up so they would get there in plenty of time. She thought it would give them a chance to just sit down and have a good long talk; something they really hadn't had much chance to do since the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had made their appearances.

The Great Hall was almost deserted; only a few of the Hogwarts house elves were here as they finished up the decorations for the evenings celebration.

Harry looked at his watch as they grabbed a table for themselves along the side. Harry was looking forward to celebrating Halloween properly for a change. As far as he knew there wasn't a troll loose in the dungeons, Ginny wasn't possessed by a dark book and Dementors weren't circling the school looking for Sirius. All in all, Harry was just enjoying sitting with his ladies and having the focus of everybody on other persons for a change. There was a huge party planned later for whoever was chosen as the Hogwarts champion and Harry was hoping he didn't step on many toes this evening.

"We've got way over an hour before things are supposed to start" Harry said. "Do you want to tell me what you want for Christmas this year or do I try tickling you both to get an answer?" Harry was smiling as he said this because he always lost when he tried getting into a tickle fight against both of them. "It's not too late to put a small wager on the pool Fred and George have going about who'll be picked."

All three looked up to the platform where the Goblet of Fire sat at the front of the room. It was a large, oddly shaped cup that had small blue flames dancing across its top and occasionally spilling over the side. Ginny could still see the Age Line Dumbledore had drawn around it and chuckled as she remembered the twins attempt to enter their names into the tournament. Their aging potion didn't fool the magic and they had briefly fought as they blamed each other for failing.

'_**Think it's time?'**_ questioned Hermione.

"_**I think we've taunted him enough about it'**_ answered the youngest Weasley.

"We thought if it didn't bore you too much, we'd tell you how Hermione and I reached our little agreement regarding you."

Harry's head swung around so fast to look at Ginny that both girls heard three quick snaps in his neck. They both giggled at the hopeful look on his face and just leaned in to brush his shoulders with theirs.

'_**Thought that would get your attention'**_ Hermione said smiling. "How do you want to see all this; memory view or just talking?"

Harry looked around as a few more people wandered into the hall. "It would probably be a little suspicious if we just sat here for a while without speaking. I'll take it orally. Quit that giggling Ginny; you know what I meant. I'll just listen – you ladies are going to drive me crazy someday."

Harry relented just a little bit. _**'But what a way to go' **_he said mentally.__Harry watched as Hermione blushed a little but pulled out his wand and cast the privacy spell around them. Now it would just look like a private conversation between them instead of one of the most important mysteries of his young life.

"Can you start Hermione? I pretty much know most of Ginny's side before we all met in Ollivanders store. You've told us some of your life before then and I'd like to hear the rest of the story."

Ginny held Harry's hand as Hermione began to speak.

"Since my birthday is in September, I didn't get my Hogwarts letter on my birthday like you did Harry."

Harry folded up laughing. "Nobody's ever got their Hogwarts letter like I did, Hermione."

"Oh, that's right. You had a parliament chasing after you, I forgot"

"A parliament?"

"That's a big group of owls, Ginny."

"Oh, thanks. I just call it…"

"A big group of owls" came from a chuckling Hermione and Harry.

Ginny slugged Harry on the arm and then put a finger to her lips and placed a kiss on the spot. Harry smiled at her. "On with the story please."

"Thankfully, someone thought ahead a little. If I had to think about going to Hogwarts during that whole year of normal school, it would have been very distracting. It was the first full Friday after I finished the school year that the letter came."

"I showed it to my Mom and Dad after supper and we had a good long talk about some of the things that had happened when I was much younger and some of the things that went strange at school."

"Any of those 'accidental magics' you'd care to share with your mates Hermione?"

"Only with my mates Ginny."

Harry held up his hand and smiled. "Would any of those occurrences involve a book or two by chance?"

Hermione reached out and pinched Harry's cheek gently. "Do you want to hear this or not?"

'_**Sorry Nonnie. I was just having some fun. I'll keep my mouth shut.'**_

'_**It's easier to kiss that way. Although…'**_

'_**Ginny!'**_ came from the other two Gryffindors sitting on the table. Ginny ducked her head but kept smiling. She reached over and patted Hermione's hand once to let her know to continue.

"I guess Mom and Dad saw a few strange things when I was lot younger. They told me that a stuffed toy kitty I had as an infant always seemed to keep finding its way back to my crib. No matter where in the room that they put it up."

"Summoning things when you were -1 or 2? That's pretty impressive."

"I don't remember that at all, Harry, but I remember two separate things in school that happened that nobody could explain. In second grade, we were all doing some coloring of made up cards for Mother's Day. The teacher's hair turned pink and green all of a sudden just like my card for my Mum. Of course the teacher got all upset. But we kids all did like the assortment of caps and scarves she wore for the rest of the year. I saw her in the fall and remember feeling disappointed that her hair had gone back to normal."

"The other happened three years later. A bunch of boys were teasing me about… Well it doesn't matter what they were teasing me about. Three of them were chasing me around the school yard and I ran through a small puddle trying to escape them. They were ten feet behind me but when they got to the puddle, it turned out to be about six feet deep. By the time they hauled themselves out of there, the small puddle was only about an inch deep again. The teachers could never figure out how they got totally soaked and never believed their story."

"I accidentally apparated to the roof of my school once getting away from Dudley and his gang" Harry said. Both girls had grimaced a little as they knew the stories of how Harry had suffered at the hands of his cousin. They had reached a truce somehow but it didn't mean the girls still didn't want to pay Dudley back for all the bad things he had done to their boyfriend.

"The next day Professor McGonagall was the one to show up at the Granger front door. She was wearing the nicest tweed suit with an old-fashioned tartan hat when my mum opened the door. She said she had come from Hogwarts and needed to talk to me and my parents about the school."

"That must have been nice having the deputy head of school in your house."

"She never said she was second-in-charge once during her whole visit. We came just as we were setting down to lunch so we invited her to join us. By the time she had gone from the front door to the dining room she transfigured her nice suit into her regular robes. I thought that was a great trick but she just said she was more comfortable in her regular clothes. That led into a discussion of the differences between a regular school and Hogwarts."

"We finished lunch and the discussion moved into the living room. Mom and Dad had lots of questions and I put more than a few questions to her myself. She was really patient in explaining everything from course descriptions to how to get to Diagon Alley. She told us that the Hogwarts Express left on September 1st from King's Cross and she hoped she would see me for the sorting and welcoming feast. I guess she knew that we had a lot of talking to do so she just excused herself and apparated away. Right from our living room. Dad and I thought that was so neat but Mom wasn't so sure about people popping in and out of thin air."

"We took the rest of the weekend to talk and make the decision. My parents weren't and still aren't too happy about me being away at school most of the year. They did however recognize the fact and opportunity to get me educated in magical things since I really was a witch. Dad even picked on me about getting a pointy hat and a broom until the requirements list of books, equipment and uniforms came the next day by owl. Mom was nervous about getting close to a 'wild bird' like that but she couldn't shoo the owl away. I was the one to spot the letter with my name on it attached to its leg. Mom likes owls a lot better now and she's really happy when Hedwig shows up because it means there's probably a letter from me with her."

"Anyway we had a few weeks to get used to the idea of me being a witch and going away. We were all nervous about going to the Leaky Cauldron to get through to Diagon Alley but Tom the barman was nice in showing us the passageway through. We decided to go to Gringotts first to exchange our regular money into magical money. It was kind of intimidating talking to the goblins at first but dad was right there beside me. We left Gringotts and headed for Ollivanders'; it was the furthest away shop and it seemed getting a wand would make the whole thing real somehow."

Harry thought back as he remembered what happened at Ollivanders:

_The shop was lit by a number of brass and crystal chandeliers. Two huge ones were situated over the main counter in the front and another smaller half dozen were hung over the rest of the room. There were books on display and wand holsters and a number of other items that Harry wanted to get a good look at. There was only a single muggle family currently in the store. There was a girl about Harry's age trying out different wands at the main counter across from the front door. The parents of the girl were watching very attentively but with a bit of worry on their faces. Harry had a guess that this probably was their first real exposure to the magical world._

_The girl finally found a wand that fitted her as there was a shower of sparks from the wand and the girl had a great big grin on her face. She turned from the counter to go tell her parents. Harry noticed as he stepped up to the counter that Mrs. Weasley and Ginny had approached the couple and were talking – well at least Mrs. Weasley was. It seemed Ginny and the other girl were going to be hanging around watching the adults talk._

_Harry turned back to the main counter. The man behind the counter introduced himself as the owner of the shop, Mr. Ollivander. He recognized Harry by his scar at once and told Harry that he had his mothers' eyes. Mr. Ollivander even remembered the type of wands that he sold to Harry's parents. Mr. Ollivander asked Harry a few questions and a measuring tape appeared and started measuring every part of Harry's arm and body. Mr. Ollivander eventually had to call the measuring tape off when it started measuring the different lengths of Harry's hair!_

_It seemed an endless trial and error period for Harry as Mr. Ollivander brought a number of different type wands for Harry to try. Nothing seemed to work the way it was supposed to. Mr. Ollivander then had an idea and brought out a wand that had been stored way in the back of the shop._

_As soon as Harry touched the wand, he knew it was the one that belonged to him! He got a tingle running up and down his arm and when he moved the wand a shower of red and gold sparks shot out of the end! It felt wonderful!_

_Mr. Ollivander looked a little shocked however. When Harry questioned him, the proprietor hesitantly told him that it was a twin of the wand that had killed his parents and given him that famous scar! He also told Harry that the phoenix feather in the core of the holly wand came from Dumbledore's Fawkes! Harry didn't know what to make of either of those bits of information. He just paid Mr. Ollivander the seven galleons for the wand and turned his attention back to his friends._

_Mrs. Weasley and the other girls' parents were still talking on one side of the store. Ginny and the other girl were wandering around and talking. They were currently standing before a big stand of books under one of the chandeliers. Harry had looked at the book display on the way to the front of the store. 'Perfect Wand Positions for the Practical Young Witch and Wizard' was the title of the book but Harry was quite content with the spell book that Professor McGonagall had given him. Besides, who wanted to learn anything from a bloke whose parents had named him 'Gilderoy'?_

_As Harry was walking back along one of the side counters, he saw the front door inch open. Harry saw a gloved hand holding a wand appeared at the edge of the door. The wand made a complicated movement and a red light shot out of the end! The light cut through the post holding up the chandelier that was over the girls!_

_Harry too shocked to call out to Ginny mentally or verbally, just reacted. Still holding his wand, Harry made a swift move he had seen Percy do and cried out __**'**__**Accio girls'**__**.**__ He had time to watch in seemingly slow motion as the two girls were drawn off their feet and came hurtling towards him!_

_**'**__**Ginny heads up!'**__ That was all that Harry had time to send to his young friend. The girls were heading to the wall behind Harry in a line just a little higher than his shoulders. Harry jumped and caught Ginny and wrapped his right arm around her as he reached for the other girl with his left. While catching them, Harry saw that their momentum had pulled them all over the counter as the chandelier crashed to the floor! He tried to bring both of them around to his front to protect them from the impact. He was partially successful but before he could think of doing anything else, his back and head impacted with the wall of wand boxes behind him! The room spun around and Harry fell to the floor, completely knocked out!' _(Taken from HH: Getting to Hogwarts)

"Let me talk for a bit Hermione. You could use a break." Ginny watched as Harry walked over to a nearby table and brought back a cold pitcher and three glasses. He poured two glasses and handed them to the girls. Hermione drank down the pumpkin juice gratefully; she hadn't realized how dry her mouth had gotten from the talking.

"So," Ginny continued, "there we were. Suddenly flying across Ollivanders without benefit of a broom. Hermione and I were still flailing around a little trying to get some grip on something when our hands fell together for a second. We both tried holding on to each other but we fell apart again. I was panicking until I 'heard' you tell me to brace myself; somehow I felt that you'd protect us somehow. Then I felt you grab me around the waist and then we all hit the wall."

"It was a horrible sound" Hermione said. "Your back and head hit all those shelves. And then we were falling."

"Hermione forgot to mention that you used your body to take most of the impact on yourself." Ginny eyes were tearing up and Harry asked her quietly if she wanted to stop.

"No, we want to get through all of this. I just get a little emotional when I think of all you've gone through for us." Ginny rub her eyes a little bit and then smiled at Harry. "We love your people saving thing but it hurts to watch sometimes."

Harry hung his head a little; he wasn't sure if there was anything to say to the two witches next to him right at this moment.

"Anyway, we three went a couple different directions after the impact. I heard Mum and the Grangers running over yelling for us but the first thing I saw was you laying on your side. Hermione was a few feet away and looking a little dazed at everything. I crawl over and pushed you over on your back. You were so quiet and I got scared Harry. I don't know why I did it but I had to make sure you were still alive. I just leaned down and listened for the sound of your heartbeat. When I heard it I realized that I had been holding my breath."

(AN – I'm designating past conversations with a * * to distinguish it from the regular dialogue " ". Hope it's not too confusing. CC )

"Hermione crawled over and picked me up gently. *_Let him breath. He's probably ok; just stunned._*

"I got up on my knees and really looked at her for the first time. We had been talking but only passing the time together until the parents got through with one another. She knelt down on the other side of you and we both looked up to see her parents and Mum watching all three of us on the floor."

"I think I said something like *_Harry's only knocked out I think_*."

Mrs. Granger said we weren't to move you and …

Hermione jumped in. "Then I asked the red- haired girl who had been just flying with me." *_His name is Harry?_*

*_Yes, Harry Potter.*_ Ginny snickered just a little bit. "When she didn't react to your name I knew she was a new muggle witch."

*_I'm Ginevra, Ginny Weasley._*

*_I'm Hermione Granger. Does he do this stuff all the time?_*

Ginny smiled at the memory. "I'm sorry Harry but I started giggling then. Hermione and her parents must have thought I was bonkers."

Hermione laid a hand over Ginny's. "We still do but we love you anyway."

Smiling back at Hermione, Ginny continued. *_Well, my family has only known Harry for a few weeks but yes._*

*_He must be very brave Ginny._*

*_After all he's gone through, it's a wonder._*

"I puzzled about that for a bit" Hermione said. "She picked up your hand and I saw her lips start moving even though she wasn't saying anything. I didn't know what to do to help so I picked up your other hand and held it. It just seemed important to do that. Ginny nodded at me and smiled. Somehow I felt like we were all connected somehow. That was a really nice feeling for me."

"You woke up soon after and I'm still sorry Harry for raising my voice about lying down with your headache. We all got settled in and talked over the ice cream a little bit later. Ginny was the first girl in forever I felt I could trust and open up to. We just seemed to connect really well. Among all the other things Ginny and I talked about was you. I could see then that Harry Potter was important to Ginny and a little later I figured out that the feeling went both ways. Not because anything you said but the way you each checked on each other when no one seemed to notice."

"I was puzzled when we left the ice cream shop that Ginny told me not to believe anything that I read about you in Flourish and Blotts. I was wondering why an eleven year old would have things written about him; then I saw all those books, magazine articles and other things. And found your name listed in a few real books and the explanations."

Harry blew out a sigh and grimaced. He still got an odd first year or two that wanted him to autograph one of those Harry Potter adventure books. It still embarrassed him a great deal. He just wasn't that made up character.

"So that's how Ginny and I met." Hermione smiled. "You might say we both fell for you at the same time." Harry groaned at the joke but both girls were smiling at him; life was good on this nice Halloween late afternoon.

"Our next little talk together started in a Tube station."

Harry remembered the first time the bond magic had accidentally been called by their singing. It had transported them from The Burrow to a London Underground station. Harry had been desperate to contact anybody to let the Weasleys know that he and Ginny were ok. Somehow he had gone back into Ginny's memory of her brief contact with Hermione and followed that magic back to Hermione herself. He poured a lot of magic into that connection and had unwittingly opened the mental contact between Ginny and Hermione.

Hermione continued on with their story. "I had traded some of Ginny's memories for mine in that brief contact at Ollivander's. Ginny and I traded some letters by owl, as you remember, hinting at some of the things we knew about each other. But that mental contact from Ginny was a real shocker; it was a closeness and honesty that I hadn't had with any other persons except my parents. It was a really surprising contact among other things; especially when Ginny told me that it was you that was making the whole thing possible."

"I was very impressed. My dad and I were heading to the station to pick you up and it seemed a miracle that Harry had the knowledge or the power to freeze a moment in time in your memory and trace a teeny bit of magic right back to me. I think I started realizing then that Harry was somebody special and not because of what everybody else had written about him."

Hermione thought back to that evening. "We were so relieved to find you. I was worried that something else had happened to both of you and you might not be at the Queen's Cross station when we got there. I was so glad when you responded to our yells. It almost knocked me off my feet when Ginny and ran together in a hug. We had that contact back that was there in my bedroom!"

Ginny took over talking for a bit. "She was pleasantly surprised that we had full communication while we were touching. I didn't think about it at the time; I was so happy to see her and knew we would be flooing home shortly. I got her to promise about keeping our secret and then briefly told her the whole story of how Harry and I ended up in each other's head. She had lots of questions, mind you, but I told we needed to at least appear normal for her dad."

"I could feel some of your emotions too, Harry" Hermione continued. "You were very tired after all the magic you'd worked but were very relieved you would be heading back to The Burrow soon. And then we met…"

"Professor Severus Snape", said Harry. "Who had been prodded out of bed to go search for a missing witch and wizard. He's never in a good mood around me to start with. To go looking for me when I obviously ran away seeking some attention, in his opinion, must have made him very annoyed."

"Harry", Hermione continued, "Professor Snape is never in a good mood around anybody."

"That's no excuse for the way he's singled Harry out for abuse Hermione." Harry could see Ginny was getting worked up at the thoughts about the Potions Master.

"Anyway my connection with Ginny (and you Harry) faded out as we drove away from the Leaky Cauldron. I was very disappointed and frankly a little lonely without the presence of you two in my head. I resolved right then that I needed to get that feeling back with both of you; I needed to be around the two special friends I had amazingly tumbled on to."

Harry and Ginny both smiled and Ginny leaned in to pat Hermione's hand. "We kind of felt that way also, especially me. It was like I suddenly had another best friend and you were a girl on top of everything else! No offense Harry, but we're different than you."

The boy sitting with them just smiled. "No offense taken Ginny and I know very well that you're different from me!" Harry waggled his eyebrows and Hermione giggled.

Hermione swatted Harry's arm gently. "You prat! Pay attention. It was what you did after that trip that also caused our next little discussion about you!"

"Oh, yes, sorry. But it seemed such a logical decision at the time."

Ginny made a fist and shook it in Harry's face. "You ran away from The Burrow. To protect my family and me from your magic!"

Hermione smiled as Harry cautiously kissed the fist in front of his face and watched Ginny relaxed. "I felt how much Ginny was hurt and cared about you when she found out you had left the next morning. The feelings I got from her just did more to making the connection stay open between us."

"Hermione _'rode_' along with me that whole morning when we read the letter you left for me and went to Hogwarts to look for you. She was the one to tell me that I might possibly be really in love with you Harry."

"Thank you Hermione. I'm especially rubbish at feelings or expressing them. I never recognized what it was back then."

"We had a long discussion while you were sleeping. She showed me a lot more of your history because she needed to talk to somebody. She thought she might have loss you and that you might not want to be around her ever again."

"In case nobody has notice, things happen around me and sometimes there not too pleasant."

"We know Harry and somewhere along the way we noticed that and decided you might need more than one of us to help and protect you."

Harry made a little bow to the two from his seated position. "And as much as I originally argued and fought against it, you were much wiser back then than I was."

Ginny and Hermione turned a little to stare at Harry. _**'Ok, and still are!'**_

Hermione continued. "I felt every bit of the anger she had when Ginny slapped you that afternoon. And how sorry she felt after. It was a very interesting conversation we all had when you finally lowered your shields Harry."

"How so?"

"I was barely holding on to my connection to Ginny as she was so far away at Hogwarts then but when you came into the conversation it was just like we were touching again. We had the connection but somehow you had the power to make it better."

"I wish I'd thought about the three way connection a little better then Hermione."

"Me too Harry. I wouldn't have gotten so upset about you're refusal to mentally talk to me when I came to the Burrow a couple days later."

"But I was worried" Harry stated.

"About pulling me like Ginny into a possible magical engagement. Ginny told me that night after you went back to Hogwarts. Very noble and very typically Harry Potter, trying to protect everybody around him."

Harry hung his head in embarrassment but Ginny chucked him under the chin. Harry looked to see both girls smiling.

"Ginny caught me up that evening and the next couple days about the soul bond between the two of you. And a lot of other things. Almost all of the history she knew of you and what had happened since you showed up in their family room. I had a pretty good idea then that Ginny wanted to be with you whatever the danger was."

"Ginny showed and told me what had happened when Dumbledore had done that spell on the two of you. I laughed at her comment about magically engaged already at the age of ten. She thought it was pretty fantastic and unbelievable but she hoped you felt or would feel the same about her someday as she did about you."

Harry leaned in and held Ginny's hand then and reached over for Hermione's. It sounded like it was getting to the point that he was interested in. Their agreement.

"I told Ginny that I was happy for her that she had a possible future with the one person she really cared about. I think she was both excited and scared about it. It was such a long way to go and then there was the whole marriage thing to think about."

"And that sort of led us into a discussion about sex" Ginny said while blushing. "Of course at that point in our lives, we had no clue about things – even with the talk from my Mum. It was a very scary idea that we'd be intimate with anyone; it actually seemed a little disgusting to us then."

"I can understand that" Harry said. "No idea of the whole experience and just being that physical with somebody that was as clueless as you were."

"One of the last things Ginny said that night before we went to sleep that she hoped that I would find somebody as wonderful as she had. I was a little sad and jealous that she was confident about her relationship with you."

"I'm sure she wasn't trying to make you feel sad Hermione" Harry said.

"Hermione I wasn't intending to do that! You never said anything to me before this."

"I wouldn't Ginny. I couldn't tell you that I'd started to get feelings for Harry himself at that point – that would have been downright cruel to both of us. I just told myself that maybe it was just ok that you and Harry were going to be my best friends."

Ginny scooted over and just reached for Hermione then. Harry watched them hug and felt a little guilty about witnessing such a private moment while they were all out in the Great Hall. Hermione finally pushed herself out of the hug and just said thanks for the moment to Ginny.

"It was the next little scuff up that brought the whole thing into focus for us both Harry. Actually calling up the bond magic in the Storm Room at Hogwarts."

Harry remembered how Hermione had figured out that they, or rather he was using singing to create or call up the bond magic that existed between him and Ginny. They had tested it by singing fairly a harmless song to transfigure their trainers into something a little different. Blue suede shoes. Both girls still asked Harry to sing a little Elvis for them and he usually tickled his way out of that request.

The smile faded from Harry's face as he remembered what had happened when they tried undoing that spell.

_When Harry called the magic back to reverse the spell on the shoes, he felt a huge jump in the amount of magic that was present. He knew that the shield he had constructed first was working in protecting Ginny and him but there seemed to be another outlet the magic was heading for. Feeling his way through the magic, Harry was appalled to see that there was a huge gathering of magic reaching out to come in contact with Hermione! Mad at himself for not thinking that Hermione might be put in danger, Harry frantically thought of the best way to handle the situation! Ginny, beside him, was becoming alarmed at the amount of magic that she was feeling and turned to look at Harry._

_Making a decision, Harry pulled Ginny behind him as he ran to where Dumbledore and Hermione were standing. The whirlwind gathered speed and size as it left the teaching platform and began whipping around the room! Mats were flying everywhere and dust clouded the vision of Harry as he pulled Ginny along. Pushing her towards the last place he had seen Dumbledore and Hermione, Harry released her hand and shouted out a spell with every bit of control he had left of the bond magic! __**'Protego Adamantinus!'**_

_Dumbledore himself had been alarmed at the amount of power that had shown up to reverse the spell. He was even more concerned when he saw Harry and Ginny flee from their standing position and run towards him. The sheer amount of magic in the room was also rapidly overpowering his own shield and he wasn't sure he could erect another one safely. Preparing to apparate out of the room with the three youngsters, Dumbledore was shocked to see Harry push his young companion next to his failing shield and call out a spell as he fell to the floor! A crystal-clear shield formed around the two young witches and the headmaster as they watched Harry crawl under a loose mat as the whirlwind whipped around the room. _

_Dumbledore couldn't cancel the new shield out and he watched helplessly from inside as the wind picked up Harry and the mat and buffeted them from side to side around the room! The two young witches were holding onto each other and crying as they watched through the dust what was happening to their young friend!_

_The storm in the room finally wound itself down. Dumbledore couldn't accurately tell if it was two minutes or five. When the last of the wild bond magic disappeared, the shield dropped also. The three rushed out from their corner to find Harry but Dumbledore stopped Hermione and asked her to run and fetch Madame Pomfrey! Hermione left as best she could in the midst of her crying and stumbled her way toward the medical wing, calling out as she ran! _(Quoted from HH – Getting to Hogwarts)

Hermione had one tear fall as felt Harry go over the disaster in his mind. "We clung to each other behind that marvelous shield you created Harry. We didn't want to watch but we couldn't look away as you and all those mats were thrown around the room."

"When the wind stopped and the shield finally fell, there was this huge empty feeling inside Ginny and me. We couldn't feel you or sense where you were! It was almost like you had disappeared somehow or …"

Harry understood that feeling as he had experienced it with both the girls. "Died" he whispered quietly.

Both Hermione and Ginny nodded somberly at that one word. Harry knew he done everything he could do to apologize to the both of them and why they were both so insistent about not undertaking things by himself.

"Dumbledore sent me to fetch Madame Pomfrey while he and Ginny tried to find you. I had just gotten to her and stumbled through my explanation when I felt some relief through our connection that Ginny and the headmaster had found you. I guess I broke down crying on one of the infirmary beds when I realized that you were alive."

"Ginny was the one to comfort me after they had brought you back and put you into one of the beds. I say comfort in the worse possible way as we were just clinging to each for support and crying together. I think Madame Pomfrey came over with a calming or sleeping draught as soon as she was sure Harry was stable."

"It seems we slept about four or five hours. I'm not exactly sure which one of us woke up first; we both tried mentally contacting you before we even opened our eyes."

Ginny took over the painful account then. "Dumbledore sent Fawkes to The Burrow with a message saying that you had been injured. Both my Mum and Dad were there when we woke up. They physically had to stop us from going to your bedside until Madame Pomfrey checked us over and said we were ok."

"And then the vigil started" Harry stated.

"Neither Ginny or I wanted to leave you but Mrs. Weasley convinced us that we needed some real rest and food and that someone would stay with you until you came to. She stayed with you first and Mr. Weasley went back with us to the Burrow. Needless to say, every one of Ginny's brothers were waiting anxiously for our report. They were very upset and didn't like the fact that you were in a coma and nobody knew when you would come out of it." Hermione shuddered at the next thought. "Or if."

"We were all sent to bed after a hasty meal and told that we could all come and visit you the next day. I sent Hedwig out with a letter to my parents telling them what kind of condition you were in. It kind of goes without saying that neither one of us girls were in any mood to go to sleep."

"And Hermione and I didn't know what to say to each other" Ginny said. "We just kind of stared at each other across the beds in my room and just kind of wished that you would be all right when we saw you in the morning."

"I'm so sorry" Harry almost made to leave the table but was held back by both the girls. "Uh-uh, we've come this far - you have to hear the rest now."

"Ok, but I really don't want to hear how my injury forced you into anything."

'_**He has a pretty high opinion of himself sometimes, doesn't he Nonnie?' **_

Harry looked from one girl to the other and recognized the amusement in their faces. He held up his hands in surrender and promised them both that he wouldn't interrupt again.

"Ginny finally gave up and crawled over to my bed and we just kind of held each other for comfort and relaxed."

"I was awake a little longer than Hermione that first night and I just kept replaying the whole thing over and over in my head." Ginny looked a little teary-eyed herself at that point. Harry handed her handkerchief and Hermione moved over so that their legs were touching. Ginny wiped a tear away and continued talking.

"I realized with a little shock that I had the memory of a lot of emotions coming from Hermione while we were clinging to each other behind that field. I replayed them and tried sorting them out. It was very confusing as I saw the amount and type of worry she had about you. I also felt she was guarding something from me. Something she didn't want me to know. I fell asleep over that puzzle."

Hermione told the next part of her story. "I woke up the next morning and carefully left Ginny sleeping. I came downstairs to find that Hedwig had returned and been sent out again. Mr. Weasley handed me a letter from Mum and I was surprised to read that she was coming to The Burrow immediately and I could stay and monitor Harry as long as it took."

"I think I cried a little bit at that and then Mr. Weasley said that he had sent Hedwig back to my mom with some general directions in getting to the Burrow."

"Ginny came down a little bit later and she was very quiet. I didn't think about it at that moment but I guess I was distracted myself. We all flooed back to Hogwarts after breakfast to see how you were."

"Madame Pomfrey was all kind of upset when she saw all the Weasleys and me show up. She didn't want anybody just hanging around and disturbing Harry. I guess Ginny and I were pretty convincing about not wanting Harry to possibly wake up by himself in a strange place. She relented and said that one or two persons could sit with Harry as long as they didn't interfere with his treatments and monitoring."

Harry looked back to Ginny at this point as hey had been trading their sides of the story almost without a break. Ginny smiled and didn't disappoint him.

'_**Nonnie and I called dibs at the same time. Somehow that amused Ron.'**_

"So what happened next?" Harry asked. He looked around. The story had been going on for a long time and the hall had started to fill up with students from the other. He waved as he saw Neville and Susan Bones come through the door to find a good seat. A bunch of the ladies from Beauxbatons had come in and Harry pointed out to Ginny that Seamus was almost drooling as he stared at the group. Hermione and Ginny giggled at his expression.

"He's got it bad Harry" Hermione finally said.

"He wants to ask one of them out to the Yule Ball. I'm not sure which but I hope whoever she is turns him down gently."

"He may have a shot" Ginny said. "Maybe she'll just appreciate his courage."

"I hope so; he's a good friend. Are we going to be able to finish this story before the sorting?"

Hermione looked at Ginny for a moment and then they both nodded. It still shook up Harry some when he saw how much in synch they were sometimes.

"Mr. Weasley took over from Mrs. Weasley then as everyone else was sent back to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley set up the visiting rotation and made sure that neither she nor I were going there by ourselves. She went up and got a nap and my Mom showed up just after lunch. She had been driving since early that morning and had got lost once along the way. She gave me a big hug and then made both of us tell her about your condition. It was Mom that made the suggestion about reading to you."

"It helped a lot" Harry said. "It was hearing everybody's voices that helped guide me back from wherever I was."

"It got kind of confusing with the shift changes and the sleeping arrangements at The Burrow after that. It took about three days for Ginny and I to end up together in watching you."

"We both had a lot of things to say to each other by that time and neither of us had wanted to talk mentally without you being there with us."

"Ginny checked first with Madame Pomfrey about your medical condition. When she said that all we were waiting for was you to wake up, we both went down to the other end of the infirmary and I cast a silencing spell around us."

Ginny patted Hermione's arm a little and looked at her and Harry both as she began to talk again. "We stared at each other for a couple minutes and then I just blurted it out. *_You have feelings for Harry._*

*_He's almost as good a friend to me as you are Ginny._*

*_That's not it. You have feelings for him like I do._*

"Hermione broke down crying then and I didn't know what to do. I rubbed her back for a couple of minutes until she settled down a little". *_I never wanted you to know this. I will leave now; I'm sorry, really, really sorry!_*

"I grabbed her hand as she started to leave Harry. I think it surprised her."

*_You're not leaving until we talk this out Hermione. Harry will want you here as much as I do when he wakes up_.*

*_But you're the one Harry is Bonded to. I never want to interfere with that_.*

* _Hermione would you use some of that fabulous brain to think about the whole thing? If there wasn't even a little bit of bond between you and Harry that magic wouldn't have ended up heading for you in that room._*

* _But we can't both love him. It's impossible. I promise I'll try to continue to be friends with the both of you. Harry said he could shut me out if he had to._*

*_Impossible doesn't seem to apply to one Harry Potter in case you haven't noticed. And I know that Harry has something more than friendship with each of us due to the bond._*

*_I don't want him if it means hurting you. I don't want him to give you up; that would be very stupid and jealous of me._ *

*_Same thing here, Hermione. And I feel like it would tear Harry up if he had to give either one of us up now. I know how he feels about you too._*

*_He's never said anything to me._*

*_Well, he's not exactly the best about sorting out his feelings now, is he? I can feel how happy he is to see you sometimes and I'm pretty sure you've gotten into his heart like he's gotten into ours._*

*_So what are we going to do about this mess?_*

* _I don't know Hermione. Do you suppose we can get Dumbledore to make a copy of Harry when he recovers? That way we can each have one of him!_*

"Hermione laughed at that and then we hugged each other. We both went back and read to you a little bit but we both were worried about each other. It was Ron and Percy that gave us a break later and we went back to the Burrow."

"Mum and Mrs. Granger had turned in to good friends by that point" Ginny continued. "They were talking in the kitchen and working together to fix lunch. I grabbed my drawing tablet and Hermione grabbed a book to read while we were waiting."

"I was going through a chapter in 'Hogwarts: A History' when I read something incredible. I think I almost jumped into Ginny's lap when I went over to show it to her. She read it to and got this strange look on her face."

"Ok, I'll bite, what was it?" Harry asked.

'_**The seventh headmaster of Hogwarts, Geoffrey Fletcherson (1573-1695) broke from tradition when he allowed the marriage of two of his students to each other and the creation of the first married rooms at the school in 1672. Headmaster Fletcher, who had two wives himself, successfully argued before the Board of Governors that being married should not be punishable by expulsion by either or both of the parties. That former practice was outlawed by the Wizengamot the next year.'**_

*_Wizards can have two wives?_*

"I think we were both astonished by that. But this was a reference to something that had happened three hundred years ago. We both wanted to check and see if it was something that was still legal or not."

Ginny started talking again as Hermione reached for another glass of juice. "We spent more than a half hour discussing the implications of that one gem of information in that book. Not that we were in any hurry to go out and get married at that second but whether that was something that could happen to the three of us in the future."

*_But how do we do we let our parents know we're interested in possibly doing this down the road. And what do we tell Harry about all this?_*

"We were called to supper soon after and sat down to supper with all sorts of thoughts running through our heads. It was a very weird setting with the usual Weasleys conversations and Hermione and I trying to make sense of each other and you and the whole bond issue."

"It was Mum and Ron's turn to go to Hogwarts. So when they left we tried to figure out if talking between ourselves would get us closer to a solution."

"It was Ginny's dad who finally saw that we were very confused about things. We told him that we were just worried about Harry and the school term that was about to start."

"We both started asking questions to Mr. Weasley then in the hope he could explain the multiple marriage thing."

*_Mr. Weasley, I read that one of the headmasters in the past had two wives. Was that a common practice in the Middle Ages?_*

Mr. Weasley sat back and thought for a second before he replied. *_Yes and no Hermione. For muggles certainly not but the wizarding community didn't have much of a problem with it. It was something that was done occasionally by agreement of the parties involved or as a political measure._*

*_Political? How could a marriage possibly be a political function?_*

* _When the only surviving member of a house like the Bones' for example was a female, it was allowable for her to marry into another couple to continue the family line. The offspring of that female would continue the original line instead of the name and line of the joint husband._*

*_That's confusing Dad._*

* _It gets even worse Ginny. Sometimes multiple marriages were mandated by the Ministry! Don't look so shocked; that practice has not been allowed for the last two centuries. But after a couple of the Goblin Wars the Ministry of Magic was worried that the magical community might totally disappear. There had been so many losses of wizards that there weren't enough fathers to … get a new generation going. So multiple marriages were assigned or encouraged between magical families._*

* _Does that happen anymore Mr. Weasley?_*

* _Mandated marriages have been outlawed for many generations but there are still arraigned marriages between some of the older more established houses today._*

* _How about the multiple marriages then?_*

* _They are very rare nowadays but there's still a few here and there. For a witch or wizard that's powerful enough or rich enough there's usually no objections as long as the partners in the marriage agree to it. There's usually a question raised about the wizard or witch being able to provide for or to protect his mates._*

"Mates – Dad said the magic word! Patchum referred to us as mates together. We all thought he meant friends but it was the other meaning that Patchum saw and felt Harry."

Harry reached for his glass of pumpkin juice. He remembered that there were other references to mates in the months before he came to Hogwarts and during the first year here. The Sorting Hat had asked and promised that Harry's mates be sorted into the same house he went to. That made so much sense now!

"We both gave Ginny's dad hugs and thanks for the history lesson and went upstairs to bed. Wizards could be married to multiple witches and vice-versa."

"Hermione spoke up first when had changed into our pajamas and settled into bed.

*_Well, we both know Harry qualifies as a powerful wizard and I don't care much about the money part. Would you be upset if I allowed myself the privilege of calling myself Harry's fiancée also_?*

*_I think the magic has already made that choice for us Hermione. You're not fully bonded to Harry yet but it may just be a matter of time or circumstance before that happens_.*

Harry thought of everything that had happened in the Chamber of Secrets and wondered if Ginny had some seer blood in her line somewhere. He turned back to the conversations that had happened between the two of them.

*_I don't want to displace you in any matter from your place in Harry's heart._*

* _Or your place either, Ginny. I think the only good alternative we have is to share him._*

* _Harry might not like this idea. He'll think we'll be fighting about and over him. His time, his attention, and all the other things._*

*_So we agree to do this without having any jealousy. Our agreement is that we're both trying to make Harry happy with either and both of us._*

*_I think I can promise that I'll be happy for you and Harry together if you can be happy with Harry and I together at times._*

*_That seems like a sensible and hopefully workable solution for all of us, Ginny. But your brothers are probably going to be upset if they see Harry paying attention to the two of us or just me from time to time._*

* _Mum and I have already explained to them the 'hug buddy' status Harry and I have. I'll just tell them that it includes you also._*

*_I'm pretty sure my Mom and Dad know how much the two of you already mean to me. I'll explain the 'hug buddy' thing to them both; they shouldn't have a problem with that. Where it gets to later we'll have to think about when we get there._*

*_Now the big question. Do we tell Harry now, err, when he comes to?_*

Harry looked at both Ginny and Hermione. He knew the answer to that one. They hadn't told him but just acted like they were all in a relationship together from the time he had come out of the coma. It had confused, confounded and delighted Harry that he was partners with two incredible witches. And that neither was angry or jealous of the other.

Hugging both the young ladies together Harry sent a brief message to both of them. _**'I know I don't say it nearly enough, but I love both of you very much. I count myself lucky every day for having you in my life.'**_

Harry felt them respond to his declaration as they clutched him a little tighter. Harry was just enjoying holding them close when he got popped on the back of the head.

"Go get a room Potter! I don't want to see that while I'm eating." Harry cancelled the privacy spell and looked around. He saw Ron holding Luna's hand as they looked for a place to sit down. Harry took a glance at his watch and saw that it was about time for the feast to start. He smiled at Luna though and winked at her smile.

"Ron, you don't see anything else when you start eating" Ginny said. "We could just start snogging right here and unless we knocked over a tray of bread over on you, we'd be ok."

"I'm not sure students are actually allowed to snog in the Great Hall" Luna told Harry. "That attracts bigger snytuzes."

Hermione smiled at the couple. She had learned in the last two years not to have Luna explain the creatures she knew about. It was weird having Ron pitching in explanations every once in a while but she couldn't tell if he was pranking her about it or not.

"I'm not sure about that Luna but I'll try to make these two behave." That statement from Harry brought a general round of laughter from everyone around them as it was known that all of the three lost themselves in pranks once in a while.

Harry looked around as he saw a lot of familiar faces entering the hall. He waved quickly to Cedric Diggory who had turned into a fine seeker for Hufflepuff. He was escorting a pretty Asian girl that Harry knew only as a Miss Chang.

Looking over to the Slytherin table Harry grinned at the obvious look of disgust on Malfoy's face. There wasn't any way that Malfoy could cheat or buy himself into the tournament. Harry was always happy when Malfoy wasn't.

Harry was looking forward to watching somebody else having to take on all the hazards for a change. He settled down with the two girls flanking them as the food appeared on the table. Harry held hands briefly with both of them and thanked them mentally for the story as they had been teasing them about for so long.

Ginny leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. "We have a few other stories that Hermione and I could tell you. Maybe in front of a fireplace sometime or a broom closet big enough to hold the three of us."

Hermione leaned in from the other direction as Harry reddened. "Only if you're a good boy. Or was it a bad boy that Ginny said she wanted? Guess we'll have to talk about that."

The twins had been watching the exchange from a few seats down and just laughed as Harry had been caught in the teasing of his girls again. Some of the Gryffindors occasionally referred to Harry Potter as the 'Boy-Who-Blushed' behind his back.

The Goblet of Fire at the front of the hall added a bunch of excitement to the atmosphere as they ate the meal. The delegation of ladies from Beauxbatons formed wedge of blue on one corner of the hall while everyone could see the Durmstrang men with their somber faces across from them sitting at the Slytherin table.

Dumbledore made an announcement about the upcoming selection and the tables were cleared of food and dishes as he waved his wand. Everyone turned to watch the Goblet as it flamed gently back and forth.

Suddenly the flames turned red and the Goblet of Fire turned a little translucent from the intensity of the flames within it. A long pyre of red flames flared up suddenly from the center of the goblet. A parched piece of paper came floating down as the red flame subsided. Dumbledore picked the paper out of mid-air and straightened out the crumple.

"The First Champion, representing Durmstrang Institute, is Viktor Krum."

Harry joined in the jubilant shout from Durmstrang as he applauded the famous Quidditch seeker. Viktor Krum walked up to the front of the room, made a quick bow to Professor Karkaroff and proceeded on to the next chamber for the preliminary instructions. Harry saw Ron had a big smile on his face as one of his favorite Quidditch players had been chosen.

It was a couple of minutes later when the next red flames next exploded out of the cup. "From Beauxbatons Academy, the Second Champion is Fleur Delacour." Harry saw Seamus almost leave his seat to go congratulate the pretty girl. He was held back by a number of Gryffindors who were quietly laughing.

Fleur Delacour walked quietly to the front of the room and dropped curtseys to Professor Dumbledore and Madame Maxine before following Viktor into the side room.

Everybody left in the room was holding their breath waiting for the name of the Hogwarts champion to be chosen. There was longer wait this time, almost ten minutes, before ten minutes. Dumbledore seemed to be getting a little worried about the delay but the red flames finally appeared again.

Dumbledore reached for the scrap and straightened his glasses before making the announcement. "Representing Hogwarts, the Third and Final Champion is … Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff table exploded in cheers and Harry stood to clap his hands at the announcement. Cedric had trouble making his way through the all the congratulations to the front of room but Dumbledore offered his hand and Cedric shook it briefly before he went the way of the previous champions.

Everyone started talking about the selection of the three champions and speculating about what the chances and tests were going to be. A lot of Hogwarts students started to surround Fred and George and Harry wondered how much money they had made on the betting pool.

Harry had stood up and was giving a hand to Ginny when the Goblet shook once and made a horrendously loud roar in flaming up again. Professor Dumbledore hurried back from the other doorway to pick up the charred piece of parchment from where it had landed on the floor.

Most of the students from the three schools had started leaving the hall but turned around in surprise when they heard the Goblet of Fire impossibly pick a fourth choice!

'_**I have a bad feeling about this.' **_Hermione and Ginny both groaned while Harry closed his eyes.

Harry opened his eyes a second later to see the look of disbelieve on Dumbledore's face. It seemed to be in slow motion that Harry heard the name called out.

"Harry Potter!"

'_**Bugger it all. I never put my name in! I'm not going!'**_

The name was repeated "_Harry Potter!"_

Everybody stared at Harry again. He saw the shocked looks on everybody's face; Ron's face was furious but Harry had bigger troubles to deal with now.

'_**Dumbledore can't stop either of you from listening in on this next conversation. They can't make me compete!"**_

"It will be ok Harry." Ginny squeezed his hand once before she let it go.

"We'll wait for you here Harry" Hermione said with a weak smile. Harry Potter looked around at the hall and wondered what all this was going to lead to.

For once he didn't care about what other people thought. He turned around and kissed his wife. At her smile, he turned the other way and kissed his other wife!

It was a mad and purposeful Harry Potter that marched to the front of the Great Hall to demand some answers!


End file.
